


Nice for a While

by SillyLioness



Series: Pet Snake [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Don't worry, Happy Ending, Hospitals, M/M, and orochimaru a med student, sakumo is a detective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 20:18:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7859749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SillyLioness/pseuds/SillyLioness
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Things are nice for a while, but it goes downhill from there, when Sakumo gets shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nice for a While

**Author's Note:**

> again, excuse any mistakes and typos and so on
> 
> *This takes place some time after the second to last paragraph of Part 1*

Things are actually quite nice for a while. Despite Sakumo being a hot piece of ass they don't have any sex. It's just harmless dates, really. Drinking coffee together in cute cafés that Orochimaru usually couldn't - didn't want to - afford, going out for food. Orochimaru thinks he understands why Sakumo doesn't want to go fast. He has a kid to take care of, a kid who lost his mother in a car accident. Orochimaru still feels a little like an ass about his first thought being whether Sakumo is even into men when he had a wife just a few years ago. At least Sakumo was fair enough to tell Orochimaru right from the start that he doesn't know whether he's able to move on yet. Other than that they also have to keep in mind that they're neighbors. If this goes to shit it better be before anything serious happens, so they don't have to avoid each other like the plague until one of them decides to move out. To Kakashi Orochimaru is still just the slightly odd guy from next door who's sort of friends with his dad. There is no need to get the boy's hopes up before they're certain.

So when Orochimaru is cleaning the stairs on their floor and the door of Sakumo's flat opens, it's already kind of odd. Kakashi should still be in school and Sakumo is at work - apparently being a detective doesn't have very family friendly working hours, so Orochimaru thinks it's already a good sign that Sakumo is willing to find the time to meet up with him. But Kakashi trails after a big, beefy guy in a very green sweater with an 80's moustache on his face, who gives Kakashi worried looks. Kakashi himself is pale, paler than usual, with wide scared eyes, his teeth obviously worrying his lower lip beneath the bandana that he wears pulled over his nose.

"Is everything alright?" Orochimaru asks softly, after there is no sassy comment about how he looks like a girl with his bun from Kakashi. For a moment the kid just stares at him and then shrugs slightly with one shoulder, before he drops the bomb.

"Dad got shot."

Orochimaru stares back at him and coughs around the lump in his throat.

"Is he okay?" Orochimaru tries to stay composed. The last thing Kakashi needs now is _him_ freaking out.

"Dai says he's in surgery."

Orochimaru nods numbly and clears his throat again - a nervous habit.

"You better get going then, I bet he's already waiting for you." Cheering up children is not his forte. Kakashi nods, too, and then follows after the man, Dai apparently, and is gone a few seconds later, leaving Orochimaru to himself.

So yes, things were actually quite nice for a while.

Orochimaru starts cleaning the stairs and windows with unknown fervor after he hears the main door fall shut. He proceeds to scrub his own flat so clean it almost shines. And when he has nothing to do after that and his hands still won't stop shaking, he grabs his mobile and calls Tsunade, who has already started a residency at Konoha's biggest hospital, which also has a renowned emergency ward.

Anxiously he waits for Tsunade to take the call. Orochimaru truly isn't used to losing his cool like this.

 _"Oi, Orochimaru, you know full well that I'm on my break now, what is it?"_ Tsunade doesn't sound too happy about his call, but Orochimaru ignores it expertly.

"You have to do me a favor", he starts and struggles a bit to find fitting words. "Can you tell me if there is a man named Sakumo Hatake at the hospital? Sakumo Hatake, you got that? He's a detective, in surgery for a gunshot wound and...and I just really need to know if he's there." If it wasn't Tsunade he'd phrase it differently. He wouldn't even call if it wasn't her.

 _"Yeah, I'll go check"_ , Tsunade says after a short pause, apparently waiting for a better explanation. Orochimaru hears her footsteps and muffled voices on the other side of the phone and taps his thigh aggressively. _Why does this take so long?_

_"He's here, if that's all you need to know. Just got out of surgery, isn't awake yet I'd guess."_

"Thanks, Princess, I'll call you back later, okay? And explain...this." Orochimaru rarely uses this abomination of a nickname that Jiraiya gave Tsunade, but he relaxes the smallest bit when he hears Tsunade’s amused snort, that's obviously directed at the name.

 _"I'm waiting"_ , is all she says, before she ends the call and leaves Orochimaru to himself in the quiet of his apartment. He calms himself down.

_Breathe in, one, breathe out, two. Repeat._

Sakumo is alive, Orochimaru knows where he is and for now things are kind of alright. Not alright-alright, but the man isn't dead, so there is one less thing to worry about. But that doesn't help his internal meltdown that much. Orochimaru really _really_ likes Sakumo, he confesses to himself, and he wouldn't know what to do if the other man just died, because there are a lot of things he'd still like to do. Kiss him, for example, and hold his hand and share a bed with him, and Orochimaru is painfully reminded of how he felt after his parents died, because there was so much he wanted to do with them, too. He wraps his arms around himself and leans back on his couch. After he stays in this position for about half an hour, he decides to go to bed. On his way to his bedroom he undresses, before he sinks down on his bed and wraps himself in the two blankets that are carelessly thrown onto the mattress. It doesn't take long for him to fall asleep. It seems like cleaning is more exhausting than it looks.

 

* * *

 

He sleeps in, Orochimaru notices with a little anger at himself. It’s already past the beginning of the visiting hours at the hospital. With an annoyed grunt he gets up, showers, blow-dries and brushes his hair, dresses nicely and eats a little in record time, before he sets off for the bus station. The ride to the hospital isn’t exactly long, so Orochimaru doesn’t have much time to prepare himself.

Slightly anxious he walks up to the front desk and clears his throat to get the nurse’s attention. One half of his mind is rattling down a thousand ways he still could lose Sakumo - wound infection, _Staphylococcus aureus_ , intolerance for his medication, just to name a few - while the other half begs this half to just shut up, because Orochimaru feels like he may actually vomit if he keeps thinking about this, in case the heavy, sick feeling in his stomach is anything to go by. He thanks the nurse, while he is already on his way to the elevator.

After the hell of an elevator ride is over - the rattling hasn’t done any good for Orochimaru’s stomach - he steps into the hall and scans the small signs for the correct room number. The closer he gets to the door that separates him from Sakumo the slower his steps get. What if Sakumo doesn’t even want to see him? Orochimaru shakes his head, even if Sakumo didn’t want to see him, he wouldn’t outright hurt Orochimaru’s feelings, so he is safe at least for now.

He knocks softly, but loud enough and waits until he hears a groggy “Come in” from inside the room. Orochimaru steps in and closes the door behind him, before he raises his hand in an awkward wave.

“Hey.”

Sakumo’s head jerks up in a sort of slow motion. For a moment he stares at Orochimaru in surprise before his eyes crinkle with his signature smile.

“You’re here.”

“Yes,” Orochimaru breathes out and sits down on the chair closer to Sakumo’s bed. “I was...worried, when I heard-” He stops abruptly and gestures vaguely in Sakumo’s direction.

“It’s alright. I’m alright. No need to worry,” Sakumo soothes him and pats his hand twice with a sluggish move, before he wraps his fingers around Orochimaru’s hand. He gives Orochimaru another smile, that speaks volumes about the pain medication he is on, but Orochimaru doesn’t comment it.

“ _I’m alright_ ,” Orochimaru mimics Sakumo and shoots him a glare. “If you weren’t in the hospital right now, I’d sock you.” Still, Orochimaru smiles a little and intertwines his fingers with Sakumo’s.

**Author's Note:**

> visit me on tumblr: silly-lioness.tumblr.com or for more Naruto trash: sheepsie.tumblr.com


End file.
